PROVIDENCE, R.I., Jan. 29 (UPI) -- In 1965, Alaska, Rhode Island, Delaware and Pennsylvania had the highest mortality rates, but by 2004 the highest death rates moved south, researchers say.
Andrew Fenelon of Brown University and the Population Council -- a group that conducts biomedical, social science and public health research -- compiled data pertaining to the cause of death in states. By 2004, there was a marked shift in mortality rates to south central states geographically contiguous -- Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee, he said.